Take Your Kid to Work Day
by Iland Girl
Summary: "He looked at me and then back to you, kicking and screaming. He chuckled and turned to me again and said 'that's the one. There's the one I wanna adopt.' And took you home the same day." Parental Tony x OC
1. Chapter 1

**'Take Your Kid To Work' Day**

By Iland Girl

' _For those that need the journey more than the destination._ '

Parental! Tony x OC

Steve Rogers x OC

* * *

 _Encounters_

* * *

 **June 5th, 1995**

It was late, late enough for the nightlife to settle in.

The cold rain pelted the grounds and any bodies that took a chance to go meandering at such a late hour. Most of the people were heading to the bar, either as a first timer for many to come or as a seasoned veteran who didn't want to admit they started drinking before ten o'clock.

Except he was neither. He was clearly drunk from his slippery steps and wavering balance, coming from a bar too considering the vodka that was staining his shirt and hoodie. He wasn't a bar hopper though because he had zero desire to go to another bar. He drank until the bar tender cut him off and then yelled and cursed until he was kicked out and banned from the club. Only he could get kicked out a 9:30 on a Tuesday.

So now he was trying to think of somewhere else he could get more liqour. Or any substance that would keep him from thinking too much. It didn't matter though, because as he tried to cut through a back alley where he was thinking a liqour store would be he tripped over a rut in the ground and fell face first into it.

Little pieces of gravel cut at his skin as he tried to remember how to sit up. He laid there for a ssolid minute before sitting up clumsily. He just sat there, in the middle of the alleyway, in dead silence. A woman who looked like a cheap escort and a greasy man walked by and paid him no notice. Digging into his pockets, he found what he was looking for. A dozen or so small tablets all sitting pretty in his dirty palms.

He snorted.

He'd finally hit rock bottom.

He closed his eyes and began to slowly, albeit clumsily, raise the pills to his mouth.

"Excuse me Mister."

He paused when he heard it; the tiniest of tiny voices. He opened his eyes and peered each way down the alley. His vision spun but he did manage to gaze upon a tiny figure standing not too far from him. From the voice he would say it was a she, but from the oversized hoodie that swallowed her frame she looked more like a drowned rat. She was wet from the rain, with her dark hair drenched to her pale face.

"Are you okay?" She asked again in a slightly braver voice. He stared at her silently for a while before she came closer. She paused a few feet from him and peered with curious eyes as he stared back with a more lucid stare. When he didn't move again her eyes flickered from his to around his face.

"You're bleeding Mister." She said with a tiny bit of worry tinging her voice. He was still trying to figrue out how old she was. No way she was older than eight. She was probably closer to five she was so tiny.

Through his musings the little girl had fished through her pocket to retrieve what looked like Captain America bandaids. He wanted to cringe at the look but couldn't find it in himself to even speak let alone move. She didn't hesitate as she move towards him, her tongue stuck out and her eyes narrowed in concentration as she pasted the bandaid over his apparent wound.

She stuck a few more on him at various angles before taking a step be and admiring her work. She nodded once before staring into his eyes again. She stared for another moment before her eyes lowered to the pills still sitting in his hand. They were falling apart from the rain dripping onto them, but they still had their basic shape.

"What are those for?" She asked. He stared for a moment, still feeling odd with not quite being able to feel the bandaids on her face.

"I'm... Sick." He managed. His voice still hoarse from yelling earlier. She stared at him before frowning.

"Sick? Like... Like a cold?" She asked with a confused look. She looked up into the rain for a moment before looking back at him. "You should be inside then Mister."

'Shouldn't you?' He mused silently.

"Not that kind of sick." He blurted out in reply. It was like he had poked her with a really sharp stick then, her eyes widened before they closed slightly. They were heaped with sadness as she dragged her toe through the dirt.

"Oh." She said as she continued to look at the ground. There was silence and he was kind of hoping she would leave. He was half debating taking them in front of her; should've said they were vitamins.

"My daddy was sick too, he took lots of pills," she said before looking up to him with ttroubled eyes. "But they don't work Mister, they only make you worse."

She walked up to him and, before she could even acknowledge she moved, swiped the pills off his hands and made them scatter to the ground. 'Idiot,' he thought, 'I can still get more.' However her tiny hands returned to his and grasped it tightly. He looked at her, the deep blue of her eyes visible from her being to close.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of you Mister." She said.

He let out a snort. How in the Hell was this pipsqueak going to 'take care' of him. It sounded like a really bad joke. Yet even as he tore down her ludicrous idea that she even _could_ help him he found the tiniest, tiniest part of him wanting to let this muse flow.

"What's your name, kid?" He asked after a few beats.

"Julianne, but I like Anna!" She said with so much warmth. He was really curious how this little brat managed to be on the street, but her lonesome. Where was her parents? Sounded like her dad bit the dust, but where was her mom?

"What's your name Mister?" She asked.

He paused for a moment before quirking his lips slightly. Finally he had regained a little bit of feeling in his face. Sadly that also meant kind of feeling the little things stuck to it.

"Anthony, but I prefer Tony."

* * *

 **Hey guys! Yeah, So I have yet to see Civil War, but I had already thought of a totally cool part to it from my dear OC's perspective. So this story was originally going to be a lot longer, however I realized most of it was almost fillery content and decided that instead of just ditching everything I'm going to just have it a bit... Different.**

 **Pay close attention to dates at the top of chapters! That way you know when something is in the past or in the present! Thsi will hopefully have one sequel that will be a lot shorter but really tie up all the loose ends!**

 **For those whoa re wondering: like Steve having PTSD, I always thought Tony was more than just a 'bit of a loose canon' when he was younger. I'm pretty sure Pepper was the only reason he didn't off himself. I mean the guy just screamedd lonely in the first Iron Man. Don't you think?**

 **Where is Anna's mom?**

 **Leave a review and tell me what you think!**

 **Cheers!**

 **Iland Girl**


	2. Chapter 2

**'Take Your Kid To Work' Day**

By Iland Girl

' _For those that need the journey more than the destination._ '

Parental! Tony x OC

Steve Rogers x OC

* * *

 _I'm Going To Take You Home_

* * *

 **June 6th, 1995**

Tony winced as the brightness of the sun was revealed.

The blinds pulled back to reveal Midtown Manhattan and all of it's mid-morning glory. The light only made his head pound heavier and he was acutely aware of a painful migraine settling into his temple.

Tony glanced around for a while, feeling like he was missing something. He spun around a few times, not remembering exactly what he was looking for. After awhile he gave up and laid back down. Shortly after his door opened and in walked his young assistant. Peepper Potts.

He'd hired her last year and hadn't had any regrets in doing so. It was a huge leap up from having Obi yabbering over his shoulder constantly.

"Good afternoon Mr. Stark. How are you feeling this morning?" Pepper asked him. He let out a strangled groan before trying to pull a pillow over his head to help with the ache in his head by blocking out the sun. Pepper wasn't fazed in the slightest by his reaction. She instead settled the glass of water she had been holding onto his nightstand and then held out her hand with two advil.

"We need to start off the day soon. A lot of your workers are hoping to have a Take Your Kid to Work Day policy for Stark industries. Your father never allowed it but quite a few of the workers werehoping to lift that..."

Tony eventually pulled the pillow off his head and glanced at the meds in Peppers hand. He held his hand open and frowned as he looked at them. Pepper paid no mind and instead went to her clipboard and began reciting the days criteria. Tony sat up, staring at the pills for a little longer.

" _Don't worry, I'll take care of you, Mister._ "

"...And then we need to do a cover for-"

"The kid," Tony said, effectively cutting Pepper off. She looked to him and raised a brow. "What happened?"

Pepper watched her boss for a moment before pursing her lips. She'd gotten used to hearing about his night time habits and had tried to hide the liqour or at the least keep an eye on what he did. The down side to working for a billionaire was that he didn't bat an eye at dropping $3,000 on liqour. So Happy and her had developed a sort of system for taking care of Tony Stark. Each morning Pepper would greet him with either coffee or advil in her hand. Not once did he ever question what happened the night before.

"Julianne Whitman, she called the cops when she found you and they notified Happy. She was taken to the orphanage last night." Pepper explained before going back to her notes. Tony frowned a bit before chucking back the pills from his hand to his mouth. Dry swallowing them like a pro, he grimaced slightly before looking to Pepper again.

"Orphanage?" He asked. Tony knew that her father had died, at least he thought that was what she said, but what about her mother? Pepper paused in her scanning of notes to take in a short breath.

"Her mother, Dianna Whitman, she was in a mugging last night. She was taken to the hospital and passed away shortly after being admitted." Pepper said in a slower tone. Tony looked up to her then and paused. No parents? What about relatives? He spoke this to Pepper but she only shook her head. Pepper looked to the clock then.

"We really do need to get going Mr. Stark if we are to make the plane." Pepper insisted. Tony gave a slow nod as he groaned a bit. He didn't want to get out of bed but he figured he might as well.

"Forget the policy, I don't need filty brats running around. If I wanted a mess I'd buy a monkey." He muttered. Hoisting himself up, he made his way to the bathroom. Pepper excused herself while Tony went to get ready.

As he made his way to the sink Tony slowly became aware of something stuck to his face. With a slight frown he gazed at himself in the mirror. It was only when his eyes narrowed in on those damn Captain America bandaids, but also some red and yellow ones, that Tony's eyes softened. Gently, he removed them before gazing at them again.

" _I'll take care of you._ "

* * *

For a total of eight days life resumed as per normal.

Tony didn't feel like his behaviour was any different, but Pepper and Happy both noticed a chance in the young billionaire recently. He didn't drink quite as much and was forever stopping the car when he saw something in the alleyway move. He'd also seemed to get lost in thought more often. Of course if you ever told Tony this he was quick to come up with some snappy remark.

Pepper decided to continue on with their schedule today without commenting this time. She told him of their next conflicts and scheduled events, but it idn't really seem like Tony was listening. Pepper poked him and he pretending to listen, which was probably all she was going to get at this point.

Tony saw a familiar building down another street. One that truly perked his interest.

"Happy make a right hand turn at the next street." Tony said.

Pepper stopped talking and Happy only gave a confirmation before turning.

"Tony we have appointments!" Pepper said. However her boss seemed to be turning a deaf ear to her rants. Happy automatically pulled up in front of the building that piqued Tony's interest. The car rolled to a stop and Tony stared up at the old building. Pepper called to Tony as he got out of the car, even pulling on his jacket. It amde him sit back down at give a raised brow to her.

"Tony we are going to get back on the road and get to your next appointment. Angelo won't wait forever and we are already late." Pepper said.

"Just one moment. It won't take long." Tony insisted. Pepper raised a brow. He held up his hands. "I promise, besides, we're already late." Tony pointed out as he left the car. Pepper rolled her eyes as she too got out of the vehicle.

Happy glanced at her from the rear view mirror. She gave a mild glare back as she undid her sealtbelt and began to get out of the car.

"Five minutes."

Tony was already inside the building. He gave a glance around at the plain walls and slight lingering of cleaning supplies. There was next to no sounds, save for the whispers of children laughing and running around. A small group tittered by him as he made his way further in, paying him no heed.

"No running in the halls!" A woman scolded as she came walking after them. Her scowl slipped from her lips as she noticed him standing there. A wide eyed expression took her over for a moment before she gave a smile and tried to smooth out her dress. The woman was older, much older than Tony, but her hair looked freshly dyed and her eye brows plucked too thin. It gave a wiry look to her weathered face that he didn't like. It didn't help that her eyes bulged when she peered through her thin glasses.

"Hello there. Appologies for the noise. The children are in recess but insist on taking the long way outside." The woman quickly covered. Tony gave a very fake smile in return as Pepper came in the doors.

"I was just hear to see Anna Whitman. She was brought here last week." Tony said as Pepper walked up to them. The woman pursed her lips before shaking her head.

"Unfortunately Julianne is in detention right now." The woman said. Tony raised a brow with a small frown.

"Why?" He asked. The old woman sighed before slipping her glasses off her face to clean them.

"I'm afraid Julianne does not get along well with the other kids. She has already been in three fights and is showing no signs of inprovement." The woman admitted. She paused then and eyed them up. "Might I ask what business you have with her?"

"Friends of family." Tony said without missing a beat. Pepper gave him a look but he had an almost begging one back. Pepper rolled her eyes before motioning to the doors. Tony nodded before giving a half hearted wave to the woman and heading to the doors. Pepper smiled to the older lady.

"It was nice meeting you."

* * *

Tony was sick and tired of listening to Obi drone on and on about how they needed to go about leading the company. Four years his dad had been gone and Tony still was considered too green to make choices on his own. He was 25 and had already graduated MIT! It wasn't like he was incapable, if somebody would just stop nagging and let him do his research that would be great.

Out of habit he reached for the scotch before continuing his work. A few minutes later he finished another drink, which lead to another. Sadly the scotch in his workshop was only a quarter full so he found himself having to head up to his room. As he got up to his stash hidden by the bathroom, he paused.

On his nightstand was still the little bandaids that Anna had given him. He paused in mid reach to the scotch and instead shhut the doors and walkeed over to the stale bandaids. Gently, he picked one up.

" _I'll take care of you, Mister."_

 _"My daddy was sick too."_

Sick... Was he sick? He didn't remember calling himself sick, granted all he rememebered were her words about taking care of him.

Tony put the bandaids back before rubbing his face a few times.

A drive, he really needed a drive.

Tony grabbed a sweater and his leather jacket before picking a sports car and heading towards the grarage. He zoomed out so fast he almsot hit the gates as they opened. He drove for an hour before parking it in a random parkade. He sat for a solid ten minutes, just watching the cars go by, until he noticed something else.

It wasn't unusual to find anyone out at this time. It was barely 9 and most people were still coming home from work. However it was the petiteness of this individual, and the baggy black sweater that looked oh so familiar that caught his attention. He swung open his door and noticed the frustration in the girl's face.

"Anna!" He called. The girl jumped at her name, but after a moment a grin spread out across her face. She ran over to his door and smiled.

"Hi Tony! How are you?" She asked politely. He smiled down at her before shaking his head.

"What the heck do you think you're doing out so late Missy?" He asked with a forcefully frowning face. Anna's eyes widened then as though she were surprised. Wasn't she scared by herself?

"M-Momma told me to run... But she can't find me if I don't wait for her." Anna said.

Tony paused for a moment then; his smile vanished and his breath got caught in his throat. Thoughts of the night he had heard of his own mother's passing came to his mind. The emotions that flickered by him came rushing back. The denial flashed forth, along with the pain of the truth. It was the first night he had wanted a distraction; the first of many.

"Well, no sense wandering around. How's your mom going to find you walking around looking like a hobo?" Tony teased. Anna stuck her tongue out at him. He offered her the passenger seat and she scooted around to sit in it. However as he went to start the car Anna kicked an empty scotch bottle by her feet.

Her little frowning face was enough to make him roll his eyes at her.

"What now?" He asked while feigning knowing what he was doing to cause such a face. Anna reached down and touched the bottle before sniffing it. She made a face and looked back up to him with a look that could only be described as a 'kicked puppy' look.

"Momma told me that drinking and driving were bad, that's why she always walked home if she went to the bar." Anna said. Tony raised a brow at that.

"Did she leave you alone often?" He asked. Anna gave a shrug before dropping the bottle. It didn't break but it did bounce on the floor once. Tony winced, thinking it would shatter, but it didn't even crack.

"She didn't, I stay with Auntie and Uncle while she was away." Anna said. Tony's brow furrowed as he noticed her shiver and cranked the heat.

"You have an Aunt and Uncle?" He asked.

"They're not my real family, but I love them like they are. They have a son who's a little younger and he's really great. I think he's super shy but he likes to play so that's fun." Anna kept jabbbering on even after the sun began to go down.

"Why don't you stay at thhe orphanage Anna?" Tony asked. Anna frowned then and looked to him.

"Because I have to find Momma. And she can't see me there." Anna said as though it was factual. Tony raised a brow.

"Why can't she see you? You turn invisible?" Tony half teased, but Anna frowned.

"They don't like me there." Anna said before pulling her knees up to herr chest and hiding them under the incredibly baggy hoodie. Tony looked at her for a long time before quirking his lip and sighing.

"I heard you got into a fight. A few actually." He said in a much calmer tone than he probably should have been about that. Then again whhy would he get mad at her for causing fights? This wasn't his little sister, or kid for that matter. The thought shook him a bit.

"I don't like bullies," Anna said in a sharp tone. Her head snapped up as she said this and pouted at him. "I hate when people pick others."

Tony only raised a brow before nodding.

"Ok." Was all he offered. Anna was quiet for a moment before rested her head on her knees.

"I like you Tony, you're not mean like the other adults." Anna said. Tony smirked at her.

"I'm still a kid too." He said. Where had that come from? He was just thinking earlier in the day how he was mature and old enough to take care of himself. Now here he was calling himself a kid? Anna only grinned at him though.

"A really big kid!"

Tony chuckled a bit before eyeing her.

"What kind of music do you like?" He asked out of the blue.

After showing Anna what ACDC, Guns and Roses, Nirvanna and The Doors were they settled on Cherry Pie by Warrant and jammed out in the front seat. However as the songs waned so did Anna's energy. Eventually she had fallen asleep; Tony flipped open his phone and texted Happy to come and get them. Soon they were loaded into Happy's vehicle, Anna lying in the back seat.

"Where to Mr Stark?" Happy asked. Tony glanced at the back seat and hesitated before replying.

"The orphanage." Tony said.

They arrived shortly afterwards and Tony was mildly disappointed to find not a soul was out searching for Anna. As he carried the child with her holding on to his shoulder and sleeping soundly up the steps the same old caretaker came up to him.

"Thank you for bringing Anna back." She said primly.

"Wasn't like you were." He said slgithyl under his breath. He knew she had heard that but he didn't care. He gently nudged Anna to wake up before she sleepily moved. He lowered her to the ground and Anna wobbled a moment before righting herself. Tony kneeled down to look her in the eye then.

"Alright Anna, you need to get back to bed." Tony told her. Anna looked around before seeming to recognize her surroundings. She looked back to Tony with an almost pitiful gaze. He almost _almost_ picked her back up and brought her back to the car. But then what? He had no idea what to do with a kid; she'd die if he was left ot take care of her. Hoow often did she need to eat? Did she need to be walked? How long did she sleep and what was considered safe by child standards?

God he didn't have a hot clue.

"Ok, will you visit?" Anna asked in an almost heartbreakingly sweet voice. Tony couldn't help a sad smile on his face.

"You betcha. And we'll listen to music and I will drive you wherever to look for your Mom. But until then you've got to take care of yourself, alright?" Tony asked. He couldn't believe how sentimental he was getting. The kid was cute, sure, but there was one other factor that made sense.

She had saved him.

Had he not been stopped in the alleyway, would he have finally done it? He would never know because of a little ball of annoyance that was latching on to him.

"Okay, but you need to too, okay Tony?" She said sleepily, rubbing one of her eyes. He smiled, actually smiled at her then.

"Okay." He said before patting her shoulder and watching her walk off with the caretaker.

* * *

That night Tony didn't sleep. He laid awake all night musing over the bandaids and sorting through his thoughts.

The next morning when Pepper came to see him Tony was already cleaned up and ready to go. She looked surprised, especially when he walked past her and took the coffee with a smooth greeting.

"You're up early Mr. Stark." Pepper commented as she walked after him.

"Yeah, trying something new. It's called putting in effort." He said. Pepper was surprised but she certainly wasn't going to shame any positive behaviour, no matter how suspicious it was.

"Well that's great-"

"And you know what I want to do? Start on those policies." Tony said as he cut her off. Pepper frowned.

"Policies?" She asked, completely off guard. Tony stopped at the elevator and nodded.

"Yeah, that whole 'Take your kid to work' Day thing. Let's start with that." Tony said as the elevator opened. Pepper got in as well with a slight frown. She didn't know exactly where this was going but she had a feeling it was too good to be true.

"Ok-"

"I was thinking that it'd be great to see a bunch of snotty little brats run around, screaming for a day, but then I realized I didn't have a snotty brat of my own to bring." Tony continued as he cut her off again. Pepper rolled her eyes and sighed.

"Oh no." She muttered. Tony looked at her like she had said something stupid.

"Uh, oh yes."

* * *

Tony hustled up the steps to the orhanage before making his way to the wiry caretaker.

"I'm here to see Anna." Tony said without a greeting. The woman's falsesmile dropped immediately until Pepper came up and elbowed him.

"What Mr Stark means to say is-"

"Mr Stark? As in Tony Stark?" The woman said with wide eyes.

"Yeah, I'm famous, woohoo. Where's Anna?" Tony asked quickly. However he didn't need to hear an answer as he heard screaming coming from the hallway. Tony didn't even ask, he just began to walk briskly down the hall. At the end was a little girl clutching a doll to her chest who came running at him. She barreled right by him and Tony looked at the way she came. There was a door at the end of the hallway. He walked to it and peered out.

The window looked out to the playground and in one corner his eyes instantly zoomed to the tiny tiny girl. She was nearly invisible next to the two much taller males. They glared at her and Tony was about to intervene when Anna swung a foot back and then forward so hard that when she made contact with the first boy's shorts he fell over instantly.

She looked to the second boy and Tony had a hard time holding in laughing as she watched the second boy run away. TThe first boy writhed on the ground before trying to run too. Pepper and the Wiry worker had caught up with him then and he looked back to Pepper.

Pepper looked out the window and watched as Anna was grabbed by another caretaker and taken to the side. But Anna didn't go down without a fight and when the second boy stuck his tongue out at her she kicked and screamed until she got loose and chased the boy.

Tony laughed as he looked to Pepper with a smile. In that moment Pepper couldn't recall a single moment she had seen her boss smile like that.

"That's her, that's the one I wanna adopt." Tony said. Pepper watched him for a moment as he watched Anna clamber on the boy who bugged her. He pulled his hair and made him fall over.

"That's my little monkey."

* * *

 **Holy snap! I was not expecting this much of a feedback! In less than a day! Great job guys!  
**

 **So I really started to flesh out the story. Originally Anna and Tony were going to see each other a lot more but I always like fleshing things out in later scenes while characters reminisce.**

 **Oh yeah, my spellcheck wont work for whatever reason so I probably have a lot of typos. I do appologize. My keyboard is also connected via bluetooth so sometimes it double sends a letter or space or doessn't send it and I'm writing too fast to see it.**

 **Ok, so for those of you whoare probably wondering this is definitely going to be a Steve x OC story, but the first 10 chapters or so is going to be Anna and Tony and maybe one or two other main characters coming in. We will be going through a bit of a time skip, though nothing major. Just so everyone can see Anna after she's settled in. Don't worry, we will get to see Anna's first steps into the house later on, but right now it's not a big enough point to the plot.**

 **How do you guys feel of Anna and Steve? I am totally crushing on Sebastian right now though and was thinking she'd be a great combo with Bucky too, but I really like her with Steve more... UGH!**

 **Anyway, huge thank you to all who reviewed. I can't read your reviews because my computer is acting up, but hopefully it will correct itself! Also for the dates, I will probably only ut then in at the beginning of the chapter or if a character is recalling something from the past. That shouldn't be too confusing then!**

 **Also if anyone thinks Tony is a little night to her, I agree, but I think he'ss kind of still in shock by the fact that he might've died that night. I would be. And he has Anna to thank for all of that. Don't worry, Tony will be back to wise cracking pretty soon.**

 **Leave a review and tell me what you think!**

 **Cheers!**

 **Iland Girl**


	3. Chapter 3

**'Take Your Kid To Work' Day**

By Iland Girl

' _For those that need the journey more than the destination._ '

Parental! Tony x OC

Steve Rogers x OC

* * *

 _What would you do?_

* * *

 **September 20th, 2005**

Anna narrowed her eyes in concentration as she full on glared at the page.

"JARVIS, can you explain question 13 for me?" She asked.

"Certainly Julianne. It is a Endothermic reaction and a biochemical theorom, simply put." JARVIS said as he opened up a screen in front of her spot at the table. She glanced over the equation as he explained it to her. Plugging all the equations into my own she successfully solved the equation.

Tony came through the living room and glaced at the work table Anna set up close to the glass wall. She was still scribbling curiously when he waltzed over to her. Tony glanced at the screen before frowning.

"C'mon kid, that one's a cake walk. What's wrong with you?" Tony asked.

"Not everyone was born brilliant, some of us have to work at it." Said Anna as she finished scribbling and sniffed the air. Her eyes locked on to the square cardboard box of pizza in his hands and sniffed the air again.

"Oh come to momma," She said with a half open mouth. Tony smirked and held out a slice to her. Just as she went to grab it he pulled it away. "Tony!"

"Ah ah. Did you finished your homework?" Tony asked. Anna rolled her eyes.

"You just saw me do the last equation." She said before reaching for the piece again. He held it higher again and raised a brow.

"And your highschool homework?" Tony asked. Anna grumbled before pulling out a sheet of paper and slapping it on the table.

"Was done before I got home." She said before lunging for the slice. Tony let her steal it before taking a piece of his own. They chewed in silence for a moment before tony swallowed and dropped the pizza box next to her homework.

"So I was thinking we should get to work on your engineering degree next." Tony said. Anna rolled her eyes again before swallowing her own massive chew.

"C'mon! You just started Bio-chemistry with me and I _just_ finished my Advanced Calculus. What more do you want?" She whined. Tony tutted her and wagged a finger.

"We had an agreement missy, and I intend to keep it." He pointed out before stealing the pizza box when she tried to take another slice. Anna glared and followed as he quickly scuttled down to his workshop.

"Oh yes, 'You can stay in your redneck school in Queens but you are expected to do extra homework when I give it to you and for you to come home on weekends and holidays'. But I didn't think you meant I would be taking my college degree when I was 14!"

"Actually we started when you were 12. I wanted to start sooner but you were taking forever with calculus." Tony ppointed out as he went down the stairs quickly to avoid her. Anna let out a large sigh as she followed.

"Most teens spend Saturday night hanging with friends or going on dates. I spent mine learning about Engineering and Biochemistry!" Anna whined. Tony hummed a reply as she punched in the code to his workshop and Anna followed.

"Mmm, no, more like JARVIS did all the work and you puttered around after him. C'mon I made him for you, the least you coul ddo is try." Tony teased. Anna rolled her eyes but smiled.

"No offense JARVIS." Anna called out.

"None taken Anna, I am well aware of Mr Stark's humor." JARVIS replied. Anna couldn't help but grin as Tony rolled his eyes.

"Ugh now you're just teaching him bad things," Tony said as he waltzed up to a car. "Next thing you know I'm going to find myself in a cardboard box in Africa all because I took in a lonely child off the streets."

Anna blew out a thick puff of air before wandering to a chair to toss her sweater on. She then gathered her hair into a bun and walked over to a beaten up looking Impala '67. It hadn't moved from the junkyard in years and Tony had figured it would be a good car to teach her how to fix everything. Considering he still to this day wouldn't let her touch all his classics Anna decided this was an offer she couldn't refuse.

Not to mention getting her beginner's was just around the corner. She'd need a set of wheels of her own and when she saw the thing at the junkyard with not one good axel left she fell in love.

As Anna lifted the hood and began to tinker with it Tony watched her. She was an awful lot like him, and not just because she had lived with him for ten years now. She liked to build things, but unlike him, Anna always wanted to take something from scratch. She was smart and a hard worker, but she never once used it to her advantage in an argument. Oh man did she ever like to argue too; it was like fighting was second nature to her.

Tony put his tools down and walk over to inspect Anna's work. She already had a grease stain on her face and her hair was slowly falling out of its bun.

"Seriously? It hasn't been five minutes and you're a mess." Tony pointed out.

"Better than looking like I haven't done anything." Anna said as she pointedly eyed him. Tony gave a mock look of hurt before they both smirked. He paused before leaning against the side of the car as she continued to grumble and try to recall where everything went. He casually pointed out her mistakes and answered questions as she worked. Once she was done and lowered the hood she gave a sigh and grinned.

"What do you want to do with yourself?" Tony asked. Anna gave him a confused look as she walked to the work station's seat and grabbed the cloth sitting there.

"What do you mean?" She asked while wiping her face down.

"I mean work. What did you want to do? Have the industry? Never work? Marry some floozy rich guy? What's your MO?" Tony asked. Anna smiled at that though as she dropped the rag and grabbed the keys.

"I don't know yet," Anna said while walking to the driver's side door. "All I know is I'm not wasting a single opportunity given to me."

Tony watched as she started the engine. It puttered for a moment before starting. Anna let out a squeak before Tony backed from the vehicle. He ran and got a motorcycle helmet before hopping in the passenger seat.

"Okay," said Tony as he tapped his helmet. He turned too a bemused Anna before strapping himself in and holding on to the door. "Just don't kill u-WAAAHHHH!"

Tony didn't even finish his sentence before Anna went racing out of the workshop.

* * *

Anna made it to Manhattan a litttle early sunday night. Just enough time to visit the museum set up for Captain America and the other Howling Commandos. Unfortunately it was not an impressive exhibit as the museum was losing money. Anna didn't care though. She walked through the short hall over to where small momentos and paragraphs of each Commandos member. Anna stopped in front of a photo of Captain America and James Buchanan Barnes. Or Steve and Bucky as she knew they were dubbed.

Anna stared at the photo for a long time. She never saw a photo of Steve Rogers smiling unless Bucky was in there too. She wondered what he must've felt like, to watch his best friend perish. She also knew that his actions with the Valkyrie were most likely governed by his grief, his need of escape.

Anna always believed Steve did what he did because he wanted Bucky to be proud. She wished to speak with Peggy Carter, to learn more, to see more, but she also knew that was getting things out of hand.

Instead she sometimes wandered into here and mused over how things had played out. She wondered for a moment if she was somebody's Bucky, or somebody's Steve. A smile slipped onto her lips at the thought of having a friend like that.

"I figured you were somewhere in here." Said a voice. Anna's head whipped in the direction of said voice and smiled warmly when she saw a familiar glint of glasses and messy hair.

"Peter Parker, are you supposed to be out this late?" Anna teased. Peter grinned at her though and wandered up to her.

"Figured you'd want to come have dinner with us. You haven't been over for a while." Peter said. Anna paused before frowning.

"You weren't seriously looking for me, right? I mean how could you have known I was here?" Anna asked. Peter chuckled before grinning.

"I've known you since Kindergarten, Jewels, you really think I don't know you well enough?" Peter snickered, however when he received a flat stare he finally admitted. "Happy answered the phone."

Anna frowned at that. She couldn't wait until she had her own car and Happy didn't have to take her everywhere. He was a really good man and thought well of her, but she hated having to depend on someone so efficiently. Besides, Happy always muttered that he had to watch both Starks.

"Well since you're here I would love to come to dinner." She said. However she looked back to the photo of Bucky and Steve before smiling again.

"What is it?" Peter asked. Anna looked back to him and smiled while taking his hand and walking out the doors with him.

"Nothing just... Tony asked what I wanted to do once I'm done school... And I think I found the answer."

"Oh? So you're going to be a Captain America Impersonator?" Peter teased. That earned him a swift jab in the ribs.

"Laugh now, but you'll see. One day I'm going to be the one laughing."

Dinner with the Parkers had been just what Anna needed. She even managed to get Happy to come in and eat though he was relatively polite and quiet. Peter and Anna made up for what little talk he held. However on the way back to Midtown Manhattan from Queens Anna was feeling a little inspired.

She thought of what Tony had asked her, about the museum, and about where she had come from. Closing her eyes, she imagined herself staring up at a building. A massive building with her name on it, with people talking about it, how important it was.

Yes, Anna knew what she wanted to be now.

* * *

 **November 5th**

"So you want to fix people?" Peter asked as he wandered around on his skateboard. Anna nodded from where she sat on one of the ramps.

"Yeah, well sort of. I want to set up a rehab centre, but for everyone. Focusing on soldiers coming back from war. We don't take very good care of them, might as well take it into my own hands." Anna said as she watched Peter play on his skateboard. He used to crash every other minute but had gotten really good in the last few years.

"Alright, I'll bite," Peter said as he hopped off his skateboard and sat next to her. "So just how are you going to run this? Have you figured out how to manage it?" Peter asked.

Anna smirked before pulling out a binder. Her fingers cold from the crisp air but otherwise unbothered. She revealed a crisp and clean business proposal. Peter looked it over with surprise.

"Pepepr's been teaching me about managing a business and sucession planning. I figured I could have this running by 2009 if I start now." Anna paused and looked at him. "What do you think?"

Peter smirked before handing the file back to her and smiling.

"I think I'm not surprised. You always have my back." Peter said. She glanced to the forming bruise on his face and frowned. Flash had done a number today. Peter noticed her gaze and grinned forcefully at her.

"Hey," he said before forcefully making her look at his eyes. "You don't need to worry Jewels, it's not your job to protect me."

"I don't like bullies." Anna said bluntly. Peter grinned, knowing the response well.

"I know, but you can't always be protecting me." Peter said. Anna looked him over a feww times then. Peter had been her first and only true friend in kindergarten. After flash had tripped Peter coming in the door Anna had been so angry she kicked Flash in the shin. She was put in the naughty corner, but then Peter saw what she did and spilled paint everywhere, the brunette came and joined her. He'd always been small, only in the last year had he grown to be 5'11 and incredibly lanky. Now Anna was small at only 5'4, but she was insistant she was still growing (Anna always thought she would grow to be 6 feet tall).

"I know," Said Anna, despite not believing her words. "But I'll always be here for you."

Peter smirked. As they hooked our pinkies together.

"'Til the sun won't shine." He finished. Anna smiled and hugged him, which he automatically reciprocated. When she pulled back a mischevious glint was in her eye.

"Now talking of futures. I saw a very cute looking girl at lunch today and you were taking some not so innocent mugshots." Anna gleamed. Peter paled before his cheeks turned pink.

"It's nothing! Just some Candid shots!" Peter tried, but when Anna didn't budge he folded.

"Her name's Gwen..."

* * *

 **Wow...**

 **Guys I'm speechless by how many reviews I've gotten. Thank you so much! Do keep them coming!**

 **So in this chapter we see a little bit of Anna and Tony and Anna and her bestie, Peter! I do hope you guys like the addition of Pete, because I am totally messing the Spiderman timeline to fit my story.**

 **Actually I'm going to try and stick to the Avengers timeline as much as possible, but some things will be changing.**

 **So there's going to be a lot of gaps in the next couple of chapters and hopefully we can get up to Steve by chapter 10/12. Ideally I would just like everyone to get a feel for where Anna has come from and going before I start looking back at chapters. I know this chapter is short but I didn't want to introduuce another character suddenly, so next chapter will be another surprise!**

 **Do let me know what you guys think! Unfortunately I didn't have the scene for Pepper yet, but she will be appearing soon. As a general know how, I am aiming for two updates a week, but if I get a lot of reviews? Well I'm not going to lie, I will update way faster.**

 **If I do make any major mistakes do let me know. I'm Canadian, and I haven't been to Miami, DC, New York, or Any of the mentioned places in Avengers... Save for London UK, so I don't know the general feel of the cities and if you have input please share!**

 **Leave a review and tell me what you think!**

 **Cheers!**

 **Iland Girl**


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